We check in with people at each stage of the cash transfer process to see how things are going. Take a look at some of their stories as they appear here in real-time.
Learn more about how recipients opt in to share their stories.
Describe the moment when you received your money. How did you feel?
It was about 7p.m when my son came running and showed me that I had a message on my phone. When I checked, it was a message bearing the good news from Givedirectly. I was so happy and thanked God for the transfer I had received.
Describe the biggest difference in your daily life since you started receiving payments from GiveDirectly.
The biggest difference in my daily life is the progress of my newly constructed house was had been pending for a long after we diverted our funds to payment of school fees for our children. I am super grateful for Givedirectly for making my dream of owning a modern house come through.
What did you spend your most recent transfer(s) on?
After a discussion with my husband, we spent Kshs.47,600 on purchasing ballast, cement, and blocks that were used to build a house that we had put on hold after running out of finances. We had a dream of building a modern house after we had saved towards it for a long period but we decided to give attention to paying school fees for our children. I am thankful that we are almost completing the house and we can soon move in. With the remaining amount of Kshs.5,400, I took to church for tithing just to appreciate the goodness of the Lord for uplifting is.
Enrolled
access_time over 2 years ago
What does receiving this money mean to you?
Receiving this money means that I will finally live in a good house after long struggle with construction. We have not been able to finish it because my husband is the sole breadwinner and we spend KES 80,000 per year on school fees and what remains goes into buying food. For the last two years, we have been living in an incomplete house as the previous one was destroyed by a heavy downpour. As a result, there is no enough space for my family of 6 to sleep in. My two daughters are forced to sleep at a neighbor's place when my husband comes home over the weekend. I am overjoyed because the money from the first transfer of KES 55,000 I will use it to complete the house and the rest I will use to pay school fees for my two daughters in secondary school.
What is the happiest part of your day?
Last year, I bought a cow from KES 40,000 loan that I borrowed from a microfinance bank. I am happy that it calfed 4 months ago and the KES 300 per day I get from selling 6 litres of milk goes into repaying the loan. I now have peace of mind because in one years time I will clear the debt.
What is the biggest hardship you've faced in your life?
Financial constraints is the biggest challenge we are facing. I am a housewife and I depend fully on my husband to provide basic needs such as food, clothing for my family of 6 and school fees for our two children in secondary school. It has been difficult for us because having a single source of income is not sustainable and sometimes they are sent home for failure to pay their fees on time. This affects their performance when they stay home for long before going back to school and it saddens me.
